Vehicles
A vehicle is a mobile machine that transports either passengers or cargo. A number of different vehicles are seen throughout the series, including cars, trucks, tanks, and aircraft. Cars Colonel Klink is seen being driven to various locations in a Mercedes 260D staff car. Sometimes it is the standard version, while at other times it is the Pullman limousine version. These same types of cars are also used by visitors to Stalag 13. German generals, usually General Burkhalter, sometimes arrive in a six-wheeled staff car. This is a Mercedes G4 (W31) off-road vehicle, which was usually used only by high-ranking officials. This is also the vehicle seen leaving through the gate in the opening credits. Of the 57 cars produced only 3 are known to have survived the war and still exist in original form and are considered absolutely authentic with a meticulously documented history. 1. A G4 used during the annexation of Czechoslovakia and Austria in the early stages of the war is preserved at the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Germany. After World War II, this vehicle was first converted to a fire engine, before finally being restored and donated to the museum. 2. A second G4, originally a gift from Hitler to General Franco, is in the car collection of the Spanish Royal Family. It was restored by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Germany on behalf of Mercedes-Benz España as a gift to the royal family. This car featured an illuminated Virgin Mary medallion set within the dashboard. 3. A third G4 is in Hollywood. It appears in some scenes of the TV series Hogan's Heroes. It has also appeared in other Hollywood films, mainly war movies. 4. A fourth 1939 Mercedes G4 Six-Wheeled Staff Car is on display at the Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe, Illinois. It is one of just a few surviving units of this three-axle off-roader originally developed for the German Army. 5. In 2009 a classic car collector offered three G4s for sale in the U.S. for $9 million. With unproven ties to Adolf Hitler, they included a blue convertible and a grey Wehrmacht W 31 with closed cab. A special feature of the convertible was that the front passenger seat could be folded up, making it possible to stand upright in the car. In the end, the sale was unsuccessful and the trio of automobiles were proven to be modern recreations using American-built Diesel engines and did not feature the Mercedes-Benz logos anywhere on the cars. Another vehicle occasionally seen is the VW Type 82 Kübelwagen. This vehicle is easily identified by the corrugated metal doors and the spare tire in front of the windshield. Two other vehicles seen are British. One is a Rolls-Royce (easily distinguished by the grille) and the other is a 1935 Vauxhall 14/6. This can be recognised by the flutes running along the bonnet. Couriers are seen riding the German-built BMW R75 Motorcycle with sidecar. BMW began building motorcycle engines and then motorcycles after World War I. Their first successful motorcycle was the "R32" in 1923. This had a "boxer" twin engine, in which a cylinder projects into the air-flow from each side of the machine. Apart from their single-cylinder models (basically to the same pattern), all their motorcycles used this distinctive layout until the early 1980s. Many BMWs are still produced in this layout, which is designated the R Series. During the Second World War, BMW produced the BMW R75 motorcycle with a sidecar attached. Featuring a unique design copied from the Zündapp KS750, its sidecar wheel was also motor-driven. Combined with a lockable differential, this made the vehicle very capable off-road. Tanks In the episode, Hold That Tiger, Colonel Klink tells the prisoners that a nearby Panzer division had a newly developed version of the Tiger tank that would help the German Army win the war. Naturally, the heroes manage to steal one, document it, and send the blueprints to London. In Tanks for the Memory, the German Army have developed a top-secret prototype of a small radio-controlled tank. It is tested at Stalag 13 and later demonstrated to several German generals, although Corporal Lebeau is actually driving it because Sergeant Kinchloe removed the control mechanism. Aircraft Several German airplanes are seen or referred to during the series, including a Heinkel bomber and Messerschmitt fighters. A photograph of a Heinkel He-111 bomber is often seen on the wall in Colonel Klink's office and occasionally in Helga's office. Another photograph in Klink's office shows a WWI Fokker D-VII biplane in an all-white paint scheme, which suggests that it is a photo of Hermann Göring's personal airplane. Trivia * The Mercedes cars (the G4 and the 260Ds) as well as the VW Kubelwagen that were used in the production of Hogan's Heroes can also be seen in the Star Trek episode, Patterns of Force, which was filmed at the same time by Desilu Studios. * The "Tiger tank" that Corporal Newkirk (disguised as a Gestapo officer) drives in Hold That Tiger is actually an American M7 "Priest" self-propelled gun redressed in German livery. Category:Weapons and Equipment